To remaster or not to remaster?

I would go with the tapers wishes basically no matter what - and that was my take since before I started taping myself. I think the person who taped the show put enough effort, expense and in some cases sacrifice into getting the show taped; and without that effort - there wouldn't be stuff to 'remaster' in the first place. Some tapers are OK with modifications - others would only let people whose work they know touch their files, some would want stuff untouched - and in my view - this should be entirely their call. Or else 'go and tape it yourself' - I did hear that one enough.
I usually solicit help before I release anything - and once it is released - I consider it final. I work with other people's files when (and only when) asked - and always before the release.

There are about 4 versions of the Paris phone (!) recording circulates - none of them asked or even considered asking the taper even when I offered the info - all versions suck so badly while doubling and tripling and quadrupling in size - one has to wonder what (if anything) was going through the minds of those people.

I think I should be adding 'do not remaster without....' to every tape I release from now on. Lol

And yes - we have no control what happens with our tapes once it's out there; internet is 'a wild world' (credit: Nick Cave) - but one hopes for some shred of decency. Naively.
I strongly prefer my releases to run on dime because at least there the question of 'who released it?" or 'who the taper is' is resolved with a single click. Once it's elsewhere - finding the person who seeded a file set is several steps removed.

i must say... OPTION 3 with additional comment... AND ONLY if you have the needed skills to do it!!!

This is the problem. As I just posted, you could argue that the orginal taper doesn't "own" anything. There is no right/wrong black/white?

As Steve said, it's more about manners than anything else.

That's a pretty good point & I think one that the tapers who do share probably agree with to an extent.
There are bands that actually allow open taping & I know from the past that The Cure are way past caring about bootlegs. They know they'll be taped & they have even used tracks on their deluxe releases & on the Curiosity cassette.
What many people often don't see is that many tapers do it as a hobby. Yes, there are those who want a souvenir of their night out at their favourite band, but there are a surprising number who don't necessarily care so much about that. They employ an incredible amount of mic, battery box, recorder, position, levels etc. combinations to see if they can pull of a dream capture.
A lot of this stuff is often home made too.
If you can remember ham radio enthusiasts back in the day, it's not dissimilar to that really.
& when they hit a "magic" combo, they become somewhat legendary. Malcolm Beaton is a good example from the 80's & 90's & people would use him as a benchmark with a view to get better & better captures.
Without wanting to sound off, you & I are what I would call "casual tapers" in comparison. We're more than happy with the result, but we haven't gone in armed with half of radio shack taped to our torsos like some people do.
Some tapers don't care if somebody fiddles with their "product" . Even if they've invested $100 or $1000 in their gear, they are still effectively giving it to everyone for the cost of the bandwidth it takes to download it. I think that alone deserves a bit of acknowledgement & respect & that's something that berk at cure fud all certainly hasn't got.
It's nice to see here we're a lot more considerate in that respect & I hope the more seasoned tapers here see that & continue to help when mere mortals like myself need a pointer now & then.

No, if you tweak it for, say, your phone or Iprod, as long as that's where it stays, it's not being flung around the interwebs in that form

How do you measure that? There are x thousand artists. An assumption is not the same as a fact (clearly).